Speaking of Life

Honoring Mothers

Joseph Tkach has been president of Grace Communion International since 1995. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Azusa Pacific University. For more information about him, click here.

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A man once told me, “I don’t like being told to go see my mother on some humanly contrived holiday."

I tried to explain to him that while he might not like the idea of a contrived holiday, he should think about how his poor mother feels when all her friends are relating their stories of the things their children did with them on Mother’s Day, and she can only feel alone and left out.

It isn’t flowers and brunches our mothers want. Those are just symbols of something far more important – the precious gift of children who care enough to share their time.

Did you know that one of the last things Jesus did on the cross was ask a friend to look after his mother?

We find the story in John 19:25-27:

“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”

The “disciple whom Jesus loved," a person referred to only in the Gospel of John, was of course none other than John himself. As a close and dear friend, he was Jesus’ choice to see that his mother would not fall destitute with no one to provide for her.

Of course, you might be thinking, “You don’t know my mother. Believe me, she’s no Mary. How can I honor a woman like her?”

No mother is perfect, and few mothers are what their children would call ideal. But whatever their flaws and shortcomings, most mothers do love their children in a profoundly deep and unconditional way. And such unconditional love is rare in today’s world. But it’s there, and wherever you see it, it’s a reflection of the unconditional love our heavenly Father has for us.

More than 40 countries have an annual celebration of motherhood. In the United States, Mother’s Day owes its origins to the work of Ana Jarvis of Grafton, West Virginia. Her letter-writing campaign eventually resulted in President Woodrow Wilson’s 1914 proclamation of a national observance of mothers, to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.

For all its commercialism, Mothers Day is a good thing. This year, why not let your mother know how special she really is?

I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.

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